Austria-Hungary

Armoured Train Typ Ae

The Armoured Train was a special category of AFV used by most countries in WW1, but especially by those involved in combat on the Eastern Front, were the distances often were huge and the railway net crucial. One of these countries was Austria-Hungary. An improvised Armoured Train design was used in combat in September-October 1914, and proved so successful, that the Army HQ immediately ordered the construction of a standardized Armoured Train design. The order to design and build there was given to MAVAG in Hungary The basis for these trains was engines of Type 377, armoured, plus two types of armoured waggons: 1. a so called Infanteriewagen and 2. a so called Kanonenwagen. The Infanteriewagen was equipped with five M.07 Schwarzlose MG’s (to use in four big slanted loopholes on the sides), holders for the cooling water plus rifle loopholes with armoured shutters. The Infanteriewagen had two floors: the ground floor with the MG’s, plus a (very low) top floor, for the riflemen. In addition to this most of these waggons had a special armoured observation cupola on the roof. The Kanonenwagen had a big turret with a 7cm gun, a smaller turret for one M.07 Schwarzlose MG (plus an armoured observation cupola), plus two big slanted loopholes on the rear sides for two more M.07 Schwarzlose’s. These three units – engine, infantry waggon and cannon waggon – were put together in different combinations, all depending to the needs and the circumstances.   The first Armoured Train, Panzerzüg I, arrived at Maramarossziget at 5th december 1914, and was immediately used in combat. The others were put in service during 1915. These Armoured Trains were used on all fronts, all through the war.   My model is made from FSF's three 1/72 kits. It has been built pretty much out of the box, with only some minor details added. The crew comes from HÄT's Austrian Heavy Weapons Set. Click on the thumbnails to see more views of this model:

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